Ever wonder what all the chat is about between players and Officials during a game. Well here's an example

How could you not notice Ottawa Senators’ Chris Neal in the first five minutes of the game. He was running around like a rabid dog looking for someone to bite, and the Canucks were the victims.

First it was Manny Malhotra, then Bill Sweatt, as Neil took runs at each of them and got a piece of each. Now there’s a guy that’ll keep your head on a swivel when you’re on the ice.

Next up was Alex Burrows as Neil’s well aimed elbow just about took Burrows’ head off. This type of player (Neil) the Canucks do not have, and in my opinion, really miss, and I’ll tell you why later.

Eventually Neil got around to the Twins, first Daniel, and then Henrik decided he had seen enough and as Neil was skating to the bench, decided to bring him down with a horse collar tackle using his stick to help.

The resulting scrum had Kevin Bieksa’s arm wrapped around Neil’s head, like a cowboy trying to wrestle a steer down. Even though Bieksa had reportedly spoke to the referee about Neil, this is what Beiksa said about that.

“On the first shift (Neil) was running around, I went up to the referee and I politely asked him to keep an eye on this guy. He told me they were good friends and he knows him well and he won’t cross the line.” Really!

I personally would sign a knuckle dragger for the fourth line and bring him up from Chicago just for certain teams. I would play him every time one of their guys took liberties with the order to smash mouth their superstar. I know the ice dance fans here don't like that and become very churlish when it is mentioned but hey that's me. I looked over the Canuck's roster and can only hope that Byron Bitz is as tough as he is huge.

rats19 wrote:What kind of bullshit answer.was that from the ref??? Geez Louise..was that even real fred?

I believe it's real, I've seen that quote a few times now but I'm not putting much stock in it. I'm sure all of the officiating crews are on a first name basis with Neil and are fully aware of his antics. I'm not sure how many other players in the league would have gotten a stick to the groin by Ovechkin and get called for diving. I think the boys need to stop going to the media after their conversations with the officiating crews...it's not going to help them in any way.

The Bieksa quote about talking to the referee originally showed up in Botchford's column in the Province. It reads like a sarcastic comment by Bieksa that was taken out of context by Botchford. The longer version comes from a blog on the Vancouver Sun website by someone calling themselves "nucksiceman". It's difficult to find the truth in all the BS.

Canuck-One wrote:I personally would sign a knuckle dragger for the fourth line and bring him up from Chicago just for certain teams. I would play him every time one of their guys took liberties with the order to smash mouth their superstar. I know the ice dance fans here don't like that and become very churlish when it is mentioned but hey that's me. I looked over the Canuck's roster and can only hope that Byron Bitz is as tough as he is huge.

You are in the minority. I like tough hockey as much as anyone but the days of the neanderthal goon are gone my friend. I think most of us would like to see a couple of hard hitting forwards who can play and throw the odd fist added up front. I have mentioned some decent guys in several other posts. I have to side with the "ice dance" crew here.

BTW Byron Bitz is not the answer for the umpteenth time (not you personally here). Dude is a big marshmellow .

I don't think Bitz is a marshmallow, but he is hardly a BAMF. I'm interested to see him play here, though. He hasn't been healthy very much over the past couple of years, but he is a big dude. If he skates well and lays the body he could be an effective player.

Just watched a few youtube vids of Bitz. A nice cycle with Krejci that drew a penalty when Babchuck tackles him and a few fights with guys like Brasher/Engelland/Barrett Jackman which usually involves grappling and a take down with 1 or 2 wild punches thrown in. He might not be much of a fighter but he's willing to drop 'em with heavyweights.